Distribution of Chemical Phenotypes (Chemotypes) in European Agricultural Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) Cultivars

In Europe, more than 50 approved cultivars of fiber hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) are in agricultural production. Their content of psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is legally restricted to <0.2% (%w/w in the dry, mature inflorescences). Cannabis strains with much higher THC contents are also grown, illegally or under license for drug production. Differentiation between these two groups relies on biochemical quantification of cannabinoid contents in mature floral material. For nonflowering material or tissue devoid of cannabinoids, the genetic prediction of the chemical phenotype (chemotype) provides a suitable method of distinction. Three discrete chemotypes, depending on the ratio of THC and the noneuphoric cannabidiol (CBD), can be distinguished: a “THC-predominant” type, a “CBD-predominant” type, and an intermediate chemotype. We present a systematic genetic prediction of chemotypes of 62 agricultural hemp cultivars grown in Europe. The survey reveals the presence of up to 35% B_T allele-carrying individuals (representing either a THC-predominant or an intermediate chemotype) in some cultivars—which is unexpected considering the legal THC limit of 0.2% THC. The fact that 100% of the seized drug-type seeds in this study revealed at least one B_T allele, reflects that plant breeding efforts have resulted in a fixation of the B_T allele in recreational Cannabis. To guarantee a sincere forensic application based on a genetic chemotype prediction, we recommend not to classify material of unknown origin if the samples size is below nine genetically independent individuals.     

Incognizance and Perceptual Deviation: Individual and Institutional Sources of Variation in Citizens’ Perceptions of Party Placements on the Left–Right Scale

In this paper we use comparative study of electoral systems data to understand the variation in citizens’ perceptions of political party placements on the left–right scale. We estimate multilevel models to assess the extent to which individual characteristics, party characteristics, and institutional designs contribute to variability observed in citizens’ perceptions of party placements. Because lack of information on the part of the citizens may be revealed through failure to respond to the left–right scale questions or through random components to actual placements, we develop models that include assessments of both types of responses to reduce bias from considering only one source. We find that individual-, party-, and institutional-level variables are relevant to understanding variation in citizens’ perceptions of party placements. Finally, we demonstrate that an inability to cognize the left–right scale (incognizance) and a deviation in the perceptions of party positions (perceptual deviation) have important consequences for citizens’ thermometer evaluations of political parties.     

Performance and Management in the Public Sector: Testing a Model of Relative Risk Aversion

Research has demonstrated that management influences the performance of public organizations, but almost no research has explored how the success or failure of a public organization influences the decisions of those who manage it. Arguing that many decisions by public managers are analogous to risky choice, the authors use a well‐validated model of relative risk aversion to understand how such choices are influenced by managers’ perceptions of organizational performance. They theorize that managers will be less likely to encourage innovation or give discretion to employees when they are just reaching their goals relative to other performance conditions. Analyses of responses to the 2011 and 2013 Federal Employee Viewpoint Surveys provide considerable support for these assertions. The findings have significant implications for our understanding of the relationship between management and performance in public organizations.     

Fiscal decentralization and the size of government: a European country empirical analysis

This article is an original contribution to the understanding of the relationship between fiscal decentralization and government size. Using a panel data set of the EU-15 countries, we analyse the effect of decentralization on aggregate, national and subnational government sizes by separating the long run effects of decentralization from its short run dynamics. In the long run, tax autonomy reduces central expenditure but increases—and to a greater extent—subnational public expenditure, leading to higher aggregate public expenditure. We find also that vertical imbalances tend to increase the sizes of subnational, national and aggregate governments.     

Education finance reform: A dynamic perspective

We use a dynamic Tiebout model to analyze the consequences of moving from a pure local system of education finance to a pure state system of finance in which each student receives the same resources. While much of the education finance literature focuses on the static or immediate effects of such a change, our analysis also examines the dynamic effects. Numerical simulations for a calibrated version of our model indicate that these dynamic effects are very important. Comparing steady states, we find that aggregate welfare increases on the order of 10 percent following the switch to a state system. The key to this welfare gain is that a local system yields inefficiently low investment in human capital of children from low-income families.     

Comparison of 12-Year-Old Children with Prenatal Exposure to Cocaine and Non-Exposed Controls on Caregiver Ratings of Executive Function

Differences in caregiver reported executive function in 12-year-old children who were prenatally exposed to cocaine (PCE) compared to children who were not prenatally exposed to cocaine (NCE) were assessed. One hundred and sixty-nine PCE and 169 NCE, primarily African-American, low socioeconomic status children participated in a prospective longitudinal study. The Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) Parent Form was administered. Two broadband BRIEF scores (Behavioral Regulation Index (BRI) and Metacognition Index (MI)) and a summary Global Executive Composite (GEC) were computed. Multiple and logistic regression analyses were used to assess the effects of amount of PCE on executive function, controlling for covariates including caregiver (rater) psychological distress, child’s gender and other prenatal drug exposure variables. After adjustment for covariates, amount of PCE was associated with the GEC and two MI subscales, Plan/Organize and Monitor, with heavier exposure associated with more problems of executive function. An amount of PCE by gender interaction revealed amount of PCE effects in other remaining subscales of the MI (Initiate, Working Memory, and Organization of Materials) only among girls. Head circumference did not mediate the effects of cocaine on outcomes. Higher current caregiver psychological distress levels were independently associated with poorer ratings on the executive function scales. Assessment and targeted interventions to improve metacognitive processes are recommended for girls who were prenatally exposed to cocaine.     

Different Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms in Children and Adolescents: Predictors and Differences in Girls and Boys

The development of depressive symptoms in childhood and adolescence can follow different pathways. This study examined heterogeneity in the development of self-reported depressive symptoms and the predictive influence of mothers’ depressive symptoms, the number of life events, and loss events via growth mixture modeling over a four-year period in a large community sample of German children and adolescents (N = 3,902; mean age 11.39 years; 49.6 % female). This procedure was conducted for the total sample as well as for separate samples of girls and boys. Four different classes of trajectories for the total and the girls’ model were identified, but only three classes for the boys. Girls showed higher intercepts and stronger increases in symptoms over time, whereas boys displayed stronger decreases. In the total model, mothers’ depressive symptoms and the number of life events significantly increased the level of depressive symptoms. In the gender models, only mothers’ depressive symptoms showed significant influence on the level of symptoms in girls and boys, whereas for life events this was only true for boys. In every model, the significant predictors discriminated at least between some classes. Loss events showed no significant influence in any model. In sum, there are meaningful differences in the development of depressive symptoms in girls and boys. These results have several implications for prevention and future research.     

Citizen Participation in German and Spanish Local Governments: A Comparative Study

In recent decades, citizens have become more and more disenchanted with the traditional institutions of representative government, detached from political parties, and disillusioned with old forms of civic engagement and participation. This has favored a renewed interest in citizen engagement and citizen participation and a growing re-emergence in academic and political discourse of ideas and values of community, localism, and citizen participation. This article analyzes the main objectives and the actual implementation of citizen participation initiatives in the local governments of two European Continental countries, Germany and Spain. The aim is to find out the factors that affect the possible decoupling between the objectives and the “real” uses of citizen participation. Our results show that most local governments in these two countries are using citizen participation only to increase the level of perceived legitimacy or to comply minimally with legal requirements, without really taking advantage of citizen participation to enhance decision-making processes. These findings confirm that institutional theory becomes the rationale to explain the implementation of citizen participation in these two European Continental countries.     

The Effect of New Legislation on the Disclosure of Performance Indicators: The Case of Spanish Local Governments

This article analyzes the effect of new accounting legislation on the disclosure of performance indicators in the financial statements of Spanish local governments. Based on agency and institutional theories, the article also assesses whether the disclosure of performance indicators is used to make the monitoring of local government performance easier for stakeholders or merely to project an image of good management. The results show that the enactment of new legislation has only led to a partial implementation, most local governments disclosing financial and budgetary indicators but very few providing indicators related to the performance of public services. The institutional theory (symbolic value) seems to be the rationale that best explains this pattern of disclosure.